Posts Tagged ‘Maps’

Snowmobilers in the Adirondacks will now have access to an interactive trail map on their phone to better plan their outdoor riding adventures in one of the largest trail networks in New York State.

The new, free Adirondacks, USA snowmobile app contains information about the trails in Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties, and nearby gas stations, stores, restaurants and lodging properties that welcome sledders. Additional trails in neighboring counties are expected to be eventually be added to provide a more comprehensive map. » Continue Reading.

Global warming might be a lot more fun if it came with a thermostat. Like most people in northern NY State, there are times when I wish it was not quite so chilly. If I could tweak some climate-dial so my tomato plants could safely go into the garden on May 1, guaranteed frost-free, it would be wonderful. And few of us would complain if we could suddenly grow peaches and oranges in our backyards.

But aside from a complete lack of control over the whole process, my main gripe about global warming is its first name. It’s just that hardly anyone besides astronauts has a decent grip on the massive size of the round lump of water and rock upon which we all live. Whenever there is a cold snap, a lot of us — me included sometimes — wish global warming would hurry the heck up and get on with it. And some of us even question whether weather is actually changing at all. » Continue Reading.

The Champlain Area Trails (CATS) new 2018-2019 Trail Map shows 87 hikes in the Champlain Valley, as well as new features designed to make it even more useful than the previous maps for hikers, snow-shoers, and cross-country skiers.

The first thing map users will notice is the increase in size and detail. Other new features include topographical detail so hikers will know the physiographical context of the trails they’re hiking. All trails are now listed in an easy-to-read chart form showing descriptions of each trail, length, degree of difficulty, directions, and special features such as overlooks and suitability for cross-country skiing or bicycling. » Continue Reading.

To keep up to date with its expanding network of hiking trails in the Champlain Valley, Champlain Area Trails (CATS) has published a new, updated paper trail map for 2017-18, including new trails that have been added to the network and updated information on existing trails.

A new feature on the trail map is the inclusion of icons to identify trails especially good for cross-country skiing and biking or that feature scenic views. It also notes those trails that are wheelchair accessible.

Noted land surveyor Verplanck Colvin raised the alarm about threats to Adirondack resources as early as 1868.

In 1884, a state forest commission created this detailed map of remaining timber resources in northern New York.

Later, a 1891 map included an outline of a proposed Adirondack Park, delineated by a line drawn in blue ink. This is considered by historians to be the first map of the Adirondack Park. Over time, the term “blue line”came to represent the actual boundary of the Adirondack Park.

On May 20, 1892, New York Governor Roswell P. Flower signed a law creating a 2.8 million-acre Adirondack Park. Today, the park offers an array of outdoor recreation opportunities, including more than 1,800 miles of trails and thousands of camping spots. » Continue Reading.

Adirondack Atlas, a new collaborative effort to assemble a comprehensive digital map of the Adirondack Park, was introduced to the public last week at the Conference on the Adirondacks in Lake Placid.

In 2012, I got together with Steve Signell (then working on ARGIS) to discuss our mutual interests in the advances in web mapping services. Out of those discussions came a small project for the Adirondack Mountain Club’s new Northville-Placid Trail Chapter.

But the NPT Map was just an ancestral prototype of a much a bigger idea – a full Adirondack Atlas – a modern gazetteer that could bring together data about the Adirondack Park across and space and time. Our idea was to have a digital atlas that would not only show the current state of the Adirondack Park, but also the state of Adirondack Park at various times in the past – a living map, that evolves as changes in the Park occur. » Continue Reading.

Several years ago the Adirondack Park Agency mapped all the “Remote Areas” in the Park—those lying at least three miles from a road and at least two miles from any lake where motorboats are allowed. Less than 3 percent of the Park meets those criteria.

A caption states that the map “indicates the truly remote areas of the Adirondack Park are relatively small and therefore a precious resource.” They are the dark areas shown on the accompanying map.

Given the region’s network of roads, there aren’t many opportunities left to create new Remote Areas in the Park.

Boreas Ponds is one of them.

Recently, I dug up a copy of the map and traced a circle with the Boreas Ponds dam at its center and a radius of three miles based on the map’s scale. The results, though not surprising, are worth noting, given the controversy over the pending land-use classification of the 20,758-acre Boreas Ponds Tract:

The New York State Department of Environmental (DEC) has announced that a low-altitude helicopter flight will take place over the recreational corridor between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake on Tuesday, October 25, in preparation for design and construction of a multi-use recreational trail.

The helicopter will videotape the corridor and its historic features. Additional flights are expected be made to survey the corridor with LIDAR and to obtain aerial photogrammetry data. These flights will fly at higher altitudes. » Continue Reading.

We take navigation for granted today, what with Siri, GPS, radio communications, radar, and services like Google Maps. But imagine you were a pilot in upstate New York back in the 1920s, when aviation was first coming into its own. If you took to the air, as many citizens did, how would you avoid getting lost?

The answer quite often was — you probably wouldn’t, and with potentially fatal consequences. Many pilots died in crashes after running out of fuel while trying to find a destination. » Continue Reading.

One of the wonderful ways to study the gradual settlement of the Adirondacks is to study its early 19th century maps, especially the locally-surveyed county maps, maps of real and proposed railroads, and a great variety of state maps.

In most all cases, while the maps themselves may be obscure, or hard to find – and for some sections of the Adirondacks, incomplete or inaccurate – their principal authors are well known. A map that does not name its creator is about as common as a book that does not name its author. Yet, we came upon just such an Adirondack map. » Continue Reading.